


a warm, consistent glow

by fangirl_squee, madelinestarr



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 01:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9100813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_squee/pseuds/fangirl_squee, https://archiveofourown.org/users/madelinestarr/pseuds/madelinestarr
Summary: Lem, Fero, and Hella, together and apart.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written before finishing the first season of Hieron. Any foreshadowing is unintentional, I promise.

_ Hella and Lem _

“One of us is going to have to go in there,” said Throndir, gesturing to the bar, “and ask someone.”

 

Hella pushed Lem forward.

 

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Lem, nervously twisting one of his bracelets.

 

“Just be your natural charming self,” said Hella. 

 

Lem rubbed a hand along the scar on his face. “I don't feel very charming right now.”

 

“Hey now”, said Hella, putting a hand on his arm, “What would Fero say about that kind of talk if he were here?”

 

“Fero’s biased,” said Lem. 

 

“It's hard not to be,” said Hella, with a wink. 

 

Lem blushed. 

 

“Okay,” said Lem, taking a deep breath, “I guess I’ll give it a go.”

 

“Just wait til you see  _ this _ ,” said Hella to Throndir.

  
  


_ Fero Alone _

“Oh yeah?” said Fero, his seat falling backwards from the force, “Say that again to my face!”

 

The barbarian looked down, laughing. “You’re a little short for me to do that.”

 

“Short?! I’ll show  _ you _ short!” said Fero, “How about I turn into a  _ bear _ then we’ll see who’s the short one!”

 

There was a pause, and Fero glanced behind him, as if he was waiting for something. He gave a little shrug, turning back to the barbarian.

 

Hadrian stepped forwards. “Fero, listen -”

 

It was too late, Fero was already transforming.

 

Five broken tables, seventeen broken chairs, and luckily very few broken bones later, Hadrian managed to get them out of there.

 

“Why,” panted Hadrian, “why did you think turning into a bear would  _ help _ the situation?”

 

“I don’t know,” said Fero, “usually if it’s a bad idea someone stops me, but no one said anything so I figured it would be okay.”

 

“I  _ did _ try to stop you.”

 

“What, when?” said Fero, “You just said my name, there could be all kinds of reasons you’d say my name.”

 

Hadrian heard yelling from around the corner. “Time to move, we’ll talk about this later.”

  
  


_ Lem and Fero _

Fantasmo interrogating someone, or rather, he was trying to. For someone that was a teacher, he was pretty bad at getting answers out of people.

 

“For a professor, you’re bad at getting people to answer your questions,” Fero called, from where he was sitting on the table in the small cabin. 

 

“Fero!” Lem admonished from next to Fantasmo. 

 

“All I’m  _ saying _ ”, Fero said, swinging his legs back and forward, “is that Hella would already have this guy’s mother’s name.” 

 

Lem nodded, smiling over at Fero. “And his favorite kind of sandwich.”

 

Fero laughed. “Oh yeah, Hella can get any _ one _ to tell her any _ thing _ .”

 

Fantasmo raised a slow eyebrow, and making eye contact with both of them so that he knew he had their attention. “We don’t need that kind of information, why is it pertinent that Hella could do such a thing?”

 

“Oh, it’s not,” Lem agreed. 

 

“She’s just better at getting people to talk, is what I’m saying,” Fero continued, starting to pick at the dirt under his fingernails. 

The guy spat onto the ground. “Whoever this Hella is, she still wouldn’t convince me to tell you guys anything.”

 

Fero stopped swinging his feet. “What?”

 

Lem put a hand on his shoulder. “Fero.” He turned to Fantasmo. “Perhaps it would be best to try a  _ different _ tactic. You might want to cover your ears.”

 

He pulled out his violin, and began to play.

  
  


_ Hella Alone _

It felt as though they’d been walking in the caves near the New Archives forever. Throndir felt like they’d been walking for hours, although the darkness and the identical look of the passageways made it impossible to know for sure.

 

Hadrian stopped suddenly at an intersection. Throndir, who’d been walking close behind him so as not not get lost in the winding darkness, almost walked into the back of him.

 

Hadrian was peering at the map in the torchlight, looking between the two tunnels.

 

“It’s the left tunnel,” said Hadrian.

 

He didn’t looks as certain as Throndir would have liked.

 

Hella moved forwards, examining the tunnel entrances, first the left, then the right. She crouched down, looking closely at the right tunnel’s wall.

 

“Are you sure it’s the left?” said Throndir.

 

“The right tunnel’s blocked, so it’s got to be the left,” said Hadrian, gesturing to the map.

 

“The right tunnel’s not blocked,” said Hella.

 

“Yes it is,” said Hadrian, “it says so right here.”

 

“Well, that’s an old map. This here says it’s been cleared out, probably within the last six months or so,” said Hella, gesturing to a series of small markings.

 

Hadrian moved the torch closer. Throndir could tell from the markings is that they were probably orcish, but he only knew enough to recognise the language, not to read it.

 

“What does it say?” asked Throndir.

 

Hadrian frowned. “I don’t know. Are you certain that’s what it says?”

 

Hella brushed some dust off the markings. “Lem told me to look out for them, apparently in places like this Archivists make notes along the way so they don’t get lost. And Fero said he talked to some bats last time we were in this city and they were talking about loud noises down here.”

 

“He talked … to some bats,” said Hadrian.

 

A small smile flickered over Hella’s lips before being replaced by her ordinary serious expression. “Fero likes to be things that fly.”

 

“I had no idea they were such a wealth of information,” said Hadrian.

 

Hella shrugged. “Lem and Fero talk a lot. I listen.”

  
  


_ Hella and Fero _

“What’re you doing?” said Fero.

 

Hadrian didn’t look up from Throndir’s wound. “I’m healing him, what does it  _ look _ like I’m doing?”

 

Fero was quiet, but Hadiran could feel him hovering behind him, not trying at all to hide the fact that he was peering over Hadrian’s shoulder to watch Hadrian’s glowing hands move over the wound.

 

“What?” said Hadrian.

 

“Nothing,” said Fero, “it’s just … different to how I’ve seen it done.”

 

“Well this is how I do it,” said Hadrian, trying not to snap at him.

 

“Whoa, hey,” said Fero, “I’m not saying you’re doing it wrong here. It’s just different to how I’ve seen it, I’m just curious, that’s all, jeez.”

 

“It looks like the area’s secure for now, but we probably shouldn’t hang around for too long,” said Hella, approaching them.

 

“I’m almost done,” said Hadrian.

 

Hella looked from Hadrian’s hands to his face. “And what are you doing exactly?”

 

Hadrian took a calming breathe. Getting frustrated wasn’t good for channeling divine energy into healing magic.

 

“I’m. Healing. Him.”

 

“Oh,” said Hella. She paused. “It’s just … different to how Lem does it.”

 

“That’s what I said!” said Fero, waving his arms for emphasis.

 

“You know,” said Hella, “you should show Lem this. He loves learning about this stuff.”

 

Hadrian began to wrap the bandage around Throndir’s leg. “Is Lem … thinking about coming to the church?”

 

Fero wrinkled his nose. “Nah, he just likes, y’know, knowing new stuff.”

  
  


_ Lem Alone _

Fantasmo had been, very subtly in his estimation, enquiring about pattern magic while they watched the waves. He had already read all the books he’d brought with him on this particular journey, and there wasn’t anything needed of him as their ship headed back towards Velas, so it had seemed as constructive a use of his time as any.

 

Lem stopped mid-way through an overly-detailed explanation of violin string vibrations. “Why  _ do _ you want to know so much about pattern magic?”

 

“I don’t  _ want _ to know,” said Fantasmo, wrinkling his nose, “I was merely curious at the difference between our magics, as Fero and Hella talk of your skills often when I have travelled with them.”

 

“Oh,” said Lem, blushing, “they talked about me? What did they say?” He coughed. “About my skills, I mean.”

 

It suddenly occurred to Fantasmo that the reasons Fero and Hella talked about Lem often might be not related to his academic prowess. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Velas come onto the horizon. Hopefully that would prove a good enough distraction to remove himself from this conversation.

  
  


_ Hadrian, Fantasmo, and Throndir _

“I simply find it confusing that such a detail would not have been shared with me,” said Fantasmo.

 

“I thought you already knew!” said Throndir, “It seemed like they were pretty … together when I met you guys.”

 

“Well _ I  _ knew,” said Hadrian.

 

“They told you?” said Fantasmo, eyebrows arching up.

 

Hadrian thought back to seeing Fero, Lem, and Hella together after a journey - Lem pouring over a map, marking out details of the places they’d been in a little leather-bound notebook as Hella draped herself gracefully over the back of his chair so that she was leaning mostly against his shoulders as she looked, Fero half in Lem’s lap as he reached to point out something out, Lem, leaning comfortably into them both as he wrote.

 

“I assumed,” said Hadrian.

 

“And you?” said Fantasmo, turning towards Throndir.

 

Throndir thought back to the time their large group was all together for High Sun Day. He had gone to Lem’s room to ask him a question about something he’d heard mentioned in passing. He’d thought Lem, being of the Archives, would know. He did not knock. It was a mistake.

 

In his embarrassment, he only remembered fragments - the tattoos on Fero’s arms moving as he squirmed in Lem’s lap, Hella behind Lem, her hair down around her bare shoulders, her arm on Fero’s shoulder, Lem looking up and making eye contact with him, and his own high-pitched, half-formed excuse to leave as fast as possible. 

 

“Uh,” said Throndir, feeling his face get hot, “the same. I just. Saw them together. Just like you did.” 

  
  


_ Together _

Now that they were closer to the dock, Lem could see Hella waiting there, a small hummingbird hopping excitedly on her shoulder. The bird’s movements were unmistakably Fero - all jittering movements and excited twittering where a natural bird would be still.

 

As Lem walked towards them, Fero flew ahead of Hella. He dived towards Lem,  transforming back into his halfling form while in the air. Lem moved forward, easily catching him.

 

“Showboating,” said Hella, as she caught up to them.

 

“Oh  _ absolutely _ ,” said Fero, grinning. 

 

Lem smiled as well, looking first at Fero and then at Hella. “It’s good to see you both. How was your journey?”

 

Fero took a deep breath. “Well -”

 

“We’ll save it for a time that you can record it,” said Hella, “Why don’t we head to the Laughing Buck, and we’ll tell you when we get there? You can tell us about your journey on the way.”

 

Lem’s smile widened. “Yeah, good idea.”

  
They headed into town together, walking closely, their hands sometimes joining together as they walked.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi on tumblr: madelinestarr | mariusperkins


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